School officials have made preliminary recommendations for who will attend the newest South Lyon Community Schools elementary once it opens in about 15 months.

Major subdivisions that would be part of William A. Pearson Elementary include Elkow Farms, Hornbrook and Crystal Creek, which would move from Dolsen Elementary. The Ponds, Mill River and Carriage Trace would come over from Kent Lake Elementary. Carriage Club would relocate from Hardy.

An administrative committee gave its opinion last week after studying the growing student population in the South Lyon-Lyon area.

The children from these subdivisions are expected to be sent to the new Pearson Elementary School to be built on 11 Mile Road, west of Milford Road, and is scheduled to open for the 2017-18 school year.

The local district is somewhat of an anomaly. While other school districts in the metro-Detroit area are closing schools, the South Lyon district is growing.

“This is just the recommendation at this time,” said Maureen Altermatt, assistant superintendent for the school district. “There will be a final recommendation and then the board will need to decide whether to approve in the fall.”

Superintendent Melissa Baker explained the process.

“With the geographic location of the Pearson Elementary site right in the middle of the high population growth areas, we were able to use a very logical process to determine the attendance boundary.”

She added that the administrative redistricting team used data from developers to project enrollment increases.

Assistant Superintendent Lisa Kudwa elaborated further.

“We used current student numbers, adjusted for future growth to determine anticipated student enrollment at all our buildings for the next several years,” Kudwa said. “We then recommended a plan which impacts the fewest number of students for boundary changes outside of filling Pearson Elementary.”

Even more growth

The district’s unique growth isn’t underestimated.

“We are fortunate to be a thriving school district that continues to grow,” Baker said. “With this continued growth, however, we anticipate the potential need for a ninth elementary school, with board and voter approval, within the next four years. The year could vary, depending on actual growth and whether temporary classroom spaces such as portables and divided media centers are used again.”

She said that subsequent redistricting will likely need to be more comprehensive and would impact a much larger number of students throughout the district.

“We are trying to limit the number of students being moved with this plan,” Baker said. “Besides the children going to Pearson Elementary, only 76 children are expected to go to a different school than the one they are going to now, and some of these will be fifth-graders eligible for the grandfathering option.”

The grandfathering option is explained in School Policy 5120.

“During elementary redistricting, any fifth-grade student, but only fifth-grade students, will be considered for a grandfathering option to remain at their previously assigned building. Transportation would be the responsibility of the parent/guardian.”

Right now, the district doesn’t know what the transportation costs will be following the changes.

With the continued growth, bus routes are reviewed and revised annually, officials said.

“Of course, adding new routes for a new school will require additional work,” Altermatt said. “Until this plan, or any other, is formally approved by the school board, we would not begin the work of revising routes for Pearson.”

The district didn’t include parents this time on the redistricting planning committee but parents will have a chance to continue to voice their opinions.

“There have been various models used for past redistricting in this district,” Altermatt said. “The last one used an outside consultant. The one prior to that had an extensive committee that also included parents. This time the board chose to use an administrative committee with information shared in community forums.”

There will be opportunities this summer with dates still to be determined for the community to share input. There will be also be another community forum next September.

Other changes

The preliminary recommendations suggested moving a few other subdivisions from one school to another. It lists Shadowood Farms students going to Brummer Elementary from Salem Elementary.

Dolsen Elementary would take students in downtown New Hudson from Kent Lake and Orchards of Lyon I students would go to Kent Lake Elementary.

The report also sites Millennium Middle School major subdivisions that will be moved from the Centennial Middle School boundary. They are: Lyon Ridge, Copperwood, Tanglewood, Hidden Timbers,Woodwind Village/Glens Walnut Creek and Carriage Club.

Altermatt said that the district hasn’t yet determined whether or not Pearson will be open for intra-district schools of choice.

To view the online redistricting report presentation, visit the district website and look under the June 6 school board meeting. The district doesn’t videotape study sessions or community forums.